Millions of pounds for housing and community projects left in limbo

Basildon Council is awaiting payment of more than £4million linked to planning applications, the Echo can reveal.

The agreements are commonly made to ensure schools, roads and community groups are able to cope with increased usage due to new developments.

However, many of the payments have not yet been triggered because proposed developments have been delayed.

The government is encouraging authorities not to hold up plans by waiting for developer’s cash.

David Lewis, Basildon Council’s development control manager said: “The Government has asked all local planning authorities to review all planning permissions where development has either not started or stalled to investigate whether it is onerous section 106 requirements that are preventing commencement.

“While there are a number of residential schemes in the borough within this category, no developers have yet come forward to ask the council to review their section 106 agreements.”

One stalled application is for a five-storey building, including 84 flats, in Runwell Road, Wickford, which was first approved in 2006.

Preparatory work on the site has taken place, but Basildon Council now anticipates a new scheme will be negotiated “when market conditions improve”.

As a condition of planning approval, developers had been required to contribute £650,000 for affordable housing, £140,000 to the Dick Patmore Memorial Sports Ground, £150,000 for highways and £10,000 for the Wickford Guide and Scout Group.

Wickford Ukip councillor Alan Ball said: “Until anything happens, we are not going to get anything out of that.

“My concern is the site is in a bit of a state with overgrown weeds, because nothing has been done and I really want it tidied up. The site is in limbo and it is just not acceptable.”

Basildon Council’s planning enforcement team has confirmed it will investigate whether the site owners can be issued with a notice requiring it to maintain the land properly.

Council leader Phil Turner has promised to make sure the borough gets the best deal out of developments.

He said: “The fact the Government is asking this means it wants development, growth and housing, and it is prepared to change policies to do that.

“I want what is best for Basildon residents, so in that sense I am standing in the way of the Government trying to railroad us into development at any cost.

“Wherever possible, we will use the section 106 process where we feel it is in our interest and to get the best outcomes for Basildon.”

A review led by councillors has suggested extending the term of legal agreements from five years to ten years for larger projects.

Work to convert Trafford House began earlier this year

Trafford House conversion

THE future of the neglected office block, in Cherrydown East, seemed to have been settled in 2011 when developer Colonade sealed permission to convert it to 359 flats.

A section 106 agreement involved Colonade paying £1million towards affordable housing in the area.

But the project stalled and the building was put back on the market that October, before finally being sold to Criterion Capital last July.

An alternative application for 384 homes has been lodged, meaning the original section 106 agreement is likely to never be triggered.

Dry Street homes

DEVELOPER Redrow Homes was granted outline permission for 725 homes on land off Dry Street, near Longwood Equestrian Centre.

The application was granted despite opposition from Basildon’s Green Action Group, which continues to fight to have the land designated as an area of special interest.

As part of the outline permission, Redrow is required to provide off-site affordable housing, a primary school, highway improvements and make contributions to sport and health.

A detailed planning permission for the first 181 homes has been submitted and a public exhibition was held last month.

The full application must be approved before the formal section 106 terms are agreed and payments are triggered.

Sorting office redevelopment scaled back

THE former Royal Mail sorting office in Lower Southend Road, Wickford,was earmarked for demolition as part of a project to build 173 apartments, offices, retail units and restaurants.

The application was first approved in 2005, with developers due to pay £720,000 for affordable housing in the area as part of the agreement.

But the project stalled when plans to relocate the sorting office failed, meaning the second phase of the project was shelved.

The final section 106 payment of £470,000 will not be triggered until the second phase of the project begins.

In October 2012, tempers flared at a council scrutiny meeting after it emerged £30,000 promised to cover the cost of installing CCTV before building work began had not been paid.

Wickford Action Group members Alan Ball and David Harrison, now borough councillors, almost brought the meeting to a standstill after heckling officers and councillors to ask why the issue had been swept under the carpet.

The money for the CCTV has still not been received.